PACIFIC 

RAILROAD 

PLAN 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


1850. 


Pacific  Railroad. 


539 


P3 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


THE  SENATE  COMMITTEE'S  REPORT  IN  FAVOR  OF  WHITNEY'S  PLAN". 


THE  clear  and  judicious  Report  of  the 
Senate's  Committee,  in  favor  of  the  plan  of 
Mr.  Asa  Whitney,  for  the  construction  of  a 
railroad,  without  cost  to  the  Government, 
from  the  upper  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  to 
the  Pacific,  will  doubtless  have  the  effect  to 
convince  all  parties  (except  those  who  have 
projects  of  their  own  to  offer)  that  the  plan 
of  Mr.  Whitney  is  not  only  the  best  offered, 
as  regards  feasibility,  but  that  it  is  the  freest 
from  constitutional  objections.  Indeed  it 
has  been  found  impossible  to  raise  any,  the 
least  objection  on  that  score,  and  it  is  con- 1 
sequently  impossible  to  make  it  a  party 
measure.  It  would  be  fortunate  for  the 
nation,  could  every  national  undertaking  be 
placed  upon  as  sound  and  safe  a  basis  as  the 
one  offered  by  the  Committee,  namely,  upon 
the  basis  of  individual  responsibility. 

Although  we  are  entirely  convinced  that 
the  General  Government  has  a  right  to  ap- 
propriate the  public  moneys  to  purposes  of 
internal  improvement,  when  it  is  understood 
that  private  enterprise  is  insufficient  to  ac- 
complish the  ends  in  view,  we  are  yet  satis- 
fied that  it  is  unwise  and  impolitic  to  extend 
the  aid  of  Government  toward  enterprises 
which  can  be  accomplished  without  such 
aid.  Every  railroad  and  steamboat,  every 
public  conveyance,  every  means  of  intercom- 
munication, is  intended  for  the  use  of  the 
entire  nation ;  but  it  is  impolitic  and  mis- 
chievous for  the  General  Government  to  in- 
terfere in  the  affairs  of  steamboat  and  rail- 
road proprietors ;  for  the  simple  reason,  that 
they  are  better  managed  by  individuals. 

The  magnitude  of  the  plan  advocated  by 
the  Senate's  Committee  does  not  affect  the 
argument  in  the  case  before  us.  It  is  be- 
lieved by  the  Committee  that  the  Pacific 
Railroad  can  be  built,  without  risking  a  dol- 
lar of  the  public  money.  If  the  Committee 
are  right  in  that  belief,  it  is  a  point  of  con- 


stitutional necessity  that  this  work  should 
be  undertaken,  if  at  all,  upon  their  plan.  If 
an  hundred  millions  is  to  be  expended  on 
public  works,  it  can  be  rightfully  appropri- 
ated to  such  only  as  cannot  be  constructed 
either  by  single  States  or  by  individuals. 
The  rivers  and  harbors  of  the  North  and 
West  require  to  be  opened  and  made  safe 
for  Western  commerce :  the  General  Gov- 
ernment alone  has  power  to  improve  them. 
Expenditure  upon  these  works  will  be  sanc- 
tioned by  the  people  only  because  private 
companies  cannot  and  will  not  undertake 
them.  Their  necessity  is  their  sole  excuse. 

The  great  majority  of  those  who  have  ex- 
amined Mr.  Whitney's  plan  have  pronounced 
in  favor  of  it,  not  only  because  of  its  freedom 
from  constitutional  objections,  but  because  it 
will  require  less  time  in  the  execution,  and 
cost  less  than  any  other.  The  bill,  which 
will  be  laid  before  Congress  at  the  coming 
session,  is  so  framed  as  to  close  up  every 
avenue  to  fraud  and  peculation.  Its  pro- 
visions are  simple  and  stringent. 

A  strip  of  land,  sixty  miles  in  width, 
reaching  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pacific, 
is  to  be  set  aside  by  the  Government,  and 
the  command  of  its  resources,  its  timber,  its 
water  power,  and  its  iron  mines  given  to  the 
person  who  is  to  build  the  road :  mortgaged, 
however,  and  in  the  event  of  failure  to  re- 
turn into  the  hands  of  Government ;  except- 
ing only  such  portions  as  may  have  been 
already  sold  and  occupied  by  settlers. 

This  strip  will  be  divided  into  sections  of 
ten  miles.  On  the  completion  of  the  first 
ten  miles  of  road,  the  purchaser  will  be  al- 
lowed to  sell  one  half  of  the  lands,  or  a  strip 
five  miles  in  width,  the  other  half  being  held 
in  reserve  by  the  Government. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  road  will  have  to 
be  defrayed  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales 
of  this  half,  and  a  second  section  of  ten 


540 


Whitney's  Plan  for  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


Nov. 


miles  will  be  immediately  undertaken,  and 
its  cost  defrayed  by  the  sales  of  one  half  of 
another  ten  mile  strip,  aided  by  any  surplus 
of  funds  accruing  over  and  above  expenses, 
by  the  former  sales. 

The  whole  work  can  be  carried  forward, 
after  the  opening  of  the  first  ten  mile  sec- 
tion, with  great  rapidity.  The  progress  of 
the  road  will  insure  rapid  sales,  and  a  rapid 
rise  may  be  expected  in  the  value  of  the 
lands  of  the  entire  route. 

If,  however,  contrary  to  all  expectation, 
after  passing  through  the  good  lands,  and  : 
after  completing  a  ten  mile  section  of  road, 
the  builder  of  the  road  shall  show  that  the  sale 
of  one  half  the  land  (the  alternate  five  mile 
sections)  did  not  yield  a  sufficiency  of  funds 
for  the  construction  of  a  good  road,  as  much 
of  the  remaining  five  mile  sections  reserved 
by  Government  as  may  be  necessary  to 
cover  the  deficit,  shall  be  offered  for  sale,  | 
&c.,  &c. 

In  several  articles,  during  the  past  two  | 
years,  we  have  advocated  the  plan  for  a  Pa- 1 
cific  Railroad,  lately  adopted  by  the  Senate's 
Committee,  and  we  are  happy  to  perceive 
that  the  public  mind  is  very  generally  im- 
pressed in  its  favor.  The  opposition  to  it 
has  been  slight  and  ineffectual.  A  few  poli- 
ticians on  both  sides  have  endeavored,  more 
industriously  than  wisely,  to  give  the  pro- 
ject a  party  character.  Others  have  opposed 
it  because  it  seemed  to  confer  too  much 
power  upon  a  single  person, — an  argument 
against  every  enterprise  of  the  kind,  wheth- 
er undertaken  by  an  agent  of  the  Govern- 
ment or  by  an  individual.  It  has  also  been 
objected,  that  the  projector  of  the  plan  may 
possibly  accumulate  a  fortune  by  its  success ; 
which  is  as  much  as  saying  that  it  ought  not 
to  succeed  if  undertaken.  That  a  vast  num- 
ber of  jobbers  and  speculators  would  be  en- 
riched by  the  work,  were  it  undertaken  by 
the  Government,  is  quite  certain.  It  seems 
therefore  that  we  are  bound  to  secure  this 
immense  benefit  to  the  nation  and  to  the 
entire  world,  by  agents  who  are  to  receive 
no  return  for  the  risk  they  incur,  or  the  ex- 
penditure of  years  of  time  and  labor  in  its 
accomplishment  !  Should  the  projector 
realize  a  considerable  fortune,  by  the  success 
of  the  work,  at  the  end  of  twenty  years,  the 
benefit  to  the  nation  will  by  that  time  have 
exceeded  hundreds  of  millions  ;  not  only  by 
the  commercial  movement  which  would  take 


place  across  the  continent,  after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  road,  but  by  the  settlement  of 
several  millions  of  acres  of  land,  and  a  vast 
increase  of  our  Western  population. 

In  the  very  able  and  lucid  Report  of  Mr. 
Bright,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  we 
find  expressed  the  most  unqualified  approba- 
tion of  the  plan  of  Mr.  Whitney.  Among  all 
the  plans  submitted  to  them,  they  are 
obliged  to  pronounce  in  its  favor,  without 
qualification,  and  they  conclude  that  it 
" ought  to  be  adopted" 

"  Your  Committee  have  been  aided  in  the 
examination  of  this  subject  by  the  very  fa- 
vorable and  full  reports  of  different  Com- 
mittees of  both  Houses  of  each  Congress  for 
the  last  five  years,  and  of  the  Legislatures 
of  some  eighteen  States,  decidedly  and  ex- 
pressly recommending  the  adoption  of  this 
plan  over  all  others  ;  and  the  unanimity 
with  which  said  resolutions  were  adopted  in 
both  branches  of  the  different  Legislatures 
is,  as  your  Committee  believe,  without  a 
parallel.  Public  meetings  throughout  the 
country,  in  our  populous  cities,  have  been 
equally  decided  and  unanimous  in  express- 
ing the  same  favor  for  this  plan ;  and  even 
since  the  two  Conventions  held  last  fall — 
the  one  at  St.  Louis  and  the  other  at  Mem- 
phis— public  meetings,  numerously  and  most 
respectably  attended,  have  been  held  at 
Cincinnati,  at  Louisville,  at  Indianapolis,  at 
Dayton,  at  Columbus,  and  at  Zanesville, 
at  all  of  which  resolutions  were  almost  unan- 
imously adopted  in  favor  of  this  plan,  and 
declaring  it  the  only  one  capable  of  being 
carried  out ;  and  your  Committee  believe, 
from  the  frequent  expressions  of  the  public 
press,  and  from  other  sources,  that  the 
opinion  of  the  country  is  almost  universally 
concentrated  on  this  plan" 

"  The  bill  proposes  that  a  belt  of  territory 
sixty  miles  wide, — that  is,  thirty  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  road, — with  its  eastern  base 
on  Lake  Michigan  and  its  western  on  the 
Pacific,  comprehending  about  78,000,000 
of  acres,  shall  be  sold  and  appropriated  to 
this  object,  to  be  accounted  for  by  Mr 
Whitney  at  the  national  treasury,  at  ten 
cents  per  acre,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent, — 
amounting  to  nearly  $8,000,000. 

"When  it  is  considered  that  tens  and 
scores  of  millions  of  acres  of  the  public  do- 
main are  now  being,  and  about  to  be  given 
away,  for  various  objects,  and  that  some  of 
our  leading  statesmen  are  proposing  to  give 


1850. 


Whitney's  Plan  for  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


541 


all  the  public  lands  away,  with  some  pros  - 
pect  of  success ;  and  when,  moreover,  it  is 
considered  that  only  a  little  more  than  one 
third  of  the  belt  proposed  to  be  set  apart  for 
this  road  is  good  and  saleable  land,  it  must 
be  seen  there  is  little  chance  or  probability 
that  the  Government  will  ever  get  as  much 
for  this  territory  as  by  selling  it  for  this  road 
at  ten  cents  per  acre.  Consequently  the 
road,  built  on  this  plan,  will  itself  be  a  cap- 
ital of  immense  and  incalculable  value,  and 
so  much  positive  gain  to  the  nation,  which, 
as  your  Committee  will  endeavor  to  show, 
could  in  no  other  way  be  realized." 

The  capital  to  be  employed  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  work  is  to  be  realized  solely 
by  the  rise  in  value  of  the  lands,  following 
upon  the  sales  and  settlements  of  the  first 
portions,  as  the  work  advances. 

"  The  capital  to  build  the  road  with  is  to 
be  created  by  the  increased  value  which  the 
building  of  the  road  will  impart  to  the  lands 
thus  set  apart,  and  through  which  the  road 
is  to  pass ;  and,  when  created  and  thus  in- 
vested, the  bill  provides  that  the  use  of  the 
road  shall  be  a  positive  and  perpetual  gra- 
tuity to  trade  and  commerce,  with  no  other 
tax  for  transport  of  passengers  and  merchan- 
dise than  such  tolls  as  may  be  necessary  to 
keep  the  road  and  its  apparatus  in  working 
order — which  tolls  are  to  be  determined  on 
and  regulated  by  Congress. 

"  Here,  as  your  Committee  think  will  be 
seen,  are  two  great  and  peculiar  principles 
of  this  plan,  which,  as  the  Committee  be- 
lieve, are  not  only  fundamental,  but  vital  to 
the  great  object  in  view : — 

"  1.  The  capital  is  created — a  positive 
creation — not  borrowed.  If  it  were  bor- 
rowed, or  drawn  from  other  sources,  as  all 
other  plans  contemplate,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  impose  tolls  for  dividends  to  satisfy 
the  interest ;  and  then  the  great  end  in 
view  would  be  sacrificed.  The  end  pro- 
posed is  to  draw  trade  and  commerce  on 
this  line,  by  means  of  cheap  transport  be- 
tween the  great  East  and  the  great  West  of 
the  United  States,  between  the  United  States 
and  Asia,  and  between  Europe  and  Asia. 
But  if  tolls  should  be  required  to  meet  the 
interest  on  the  cost  of  the  road,  this  end 
could  not  be  accomplished,  and  the  enter- 
prise would  be  a  stupendous  failure.  But 
on  the  plan  proposed,  with  tolls  sufficient 
only  for  expenses  of  operation  and  necessary 
repairs,  it  is  believed  that  a  passenger  may 


be  taken  over  the  whole  line  of  the  road, 
2,030  miles,  for  $20 ;  a  bushel  of  corn  for  25 
cents ;  a  barrel  of  flour  for  $1 ;  a  ton  weight 
of  merchandise  for  $10  ;  and  one  ton  meas- 
urement of  teas  (a  half  ton  weight)  for  $5. 
At  these  rates,  can  it  be  doubted  that  the 
corn  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  may  be  put 
down  in  China  for  40  cents  transit  per 
bushel, — worth  there,  as  your  Committee 
are  informed,  from  75  cents  to  $1.25  for 
60  pounds  weight, — leaving  an  average  of 
from  30  to  35  cents  a  bushel  to  the  pro- 
ducer, and,  as  the  Committee  are  also  in- 
formed, with  an  unlimited  demand  ?  And 
so  of  agricultural  products,  and  of  every 
other  species  of  merchandise,  going  to  and 
fro  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports 
of  the  United  States,  between  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  and  Asia,  between  our  eastern 
coast  and  Asia,  and  between  Europe  and 
Asia, — in  a  word,  between  a  population  of 
250,000,000  in  Europe,  across  our  bosom, 
and  500,000,000  in  Asia ;  as  also  between 
ourselves  and  all  Asia. 

"  But  double  these  rates  of  transport, — 
as  would  inevitably  be  the  case  were  the 
road  built  on  any  other  plan  of  means, 
always  requiring  tolls  sufficient,  in  addition 
to  the  expenses  of  operation  and  repairs,  to 
meet  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  the  work, — 
and  the  whole  of  this  immense  and  vastly 
extended  commerce  would  be  for  ever  pre- 
vented from  springing  into  being ;  and  the 
I  comparatively  small  amount  now  carried  on 
between  us  and  Asia,  and  between  Europe 
and  Asia,  would  be  found  to  follow  its  old 
routes.  Your  Committee  are  therefore  of 
opinion  that  this  road  can  never  be  built 
and  sustained  except  by  capital  created  by 
itself,  as  by  the  plan  proposed,  and  that  it 
would  be  doomed  to  failure,  even  if  it  should 
be  attempted,  on  the  credit  of  the  Govern- 
ment, as  the  people  would  never  submit  to 
perpetual  taxation  for  the  interest  on  its 
cost. 

"  Your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  the 
cheap  transport  to  be  obtained  by  the  plan 
proposed  involves  the  only  principle  on  which 
this  road  can  be  made  a  successful  enter- 
prise ;  and  it  is  all  the  more  satisfactory,  as 
it  will  not  cost  the  Government  and  people 
of  the  United  States  a  single  dollar." 

If  this  road  were  to  be  built  by  Govern- 
ment it  would  cost,  by  Col.  Abert's  estimate, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  millions  and 
a  half.  By  Mr.  Whitney's  plan,  say  the 


642 


Whitney's  Plan  for  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


Nov. 


Senate  Committee,  its  cost  will  be  only 
sixty  millions.  Government  is  to  receive 
eight  millions  for  the  land,  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  sales  as  the  work  advances,  making 
the  entire  cost  $68,000,000,  which  will  be 
covered  by  an  average  of  87 J  cents  per 
acre  for  the  entire  tract. 

"  The  chief  reliance  must  be  on  the  first 
eight  hundred  miles,  which  constitute,  with 
little  exception,  the  good  and  saleable  lands. 
From  what  is  known  of  the  effect  of  railroads 
and  canals  on  the  value  of  lands  and  other 
property  bordering  upon  them,  the  Commit- 
tee think  it  safe  to  conclude  that  such  a  road 
will  add  great  value  to  the  land  through 
which  it  passes  ;  and  whether  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  purpose,  is  the  risk  of  the  party 
undertaking  it. 

"  Your  Committee  believe  that  the  build- 
ing of  the  road  will  undoubtedly  create  facili- 
ties for  settlement  on  its  line  for  at  least  the 
eight  hundred  miles  of  good  lands,  and  cause 
a  demand  for  them  to  an  available  amount  of 
means  equal  to  any  possible  judicious  appli- 
cation of  means  to  the  construction  of  the 
work ;  and  the  reserved  half  of  lands,  as 
hereinafter  provided  for,  daily  increasing  in 
value,  would  certainly  be  a  sure  source  of 
capital  for  an  equal  or  greater  distance  be- 
yond the  good  and  through  the  poor  lands, 
a  part  of  which  latter  would  no  doubt  be 
made  available  for  settlement  by  means  of 
the  road. 

"  Your  Committee  think  it  would  be  veiy 
difficult,  and  enormously  expensive,  if  not 
impossible,  to  construct  such  a  road  through 
a  now  entire  wilderness,  on  any  plan  of 
means,  unless  settlement  can  keep  pace  with 
the  work  ;  and  that  this  plan,  as  it  connects 
the  sale  and  settlement  of  the  lands  with 
the  work  itself,  is  not  only  the  only  sure  plan 
of  means,  but  by  it  the  work  will  advance 
as  rapidly,  or  more  so,  than  on  any  other 
plan.  Besides,  these  lands,  with  this  great 
highway  through  their  centre,  could  not,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  fail  to  com- 
mand any  amount  of  money  required  for  the 
progress  of  the  work,  as  their  daily  increas- 
ing value  would  render  them  the  most  safe 
and  most  profitable  investment  for  money.'" 

It  is  impossible  to  give  the  details  of  the 
plan  in  a  more  condensed  and  lucid  shape 
than  is  exhibited  in  this  able  Report : — 

"  The  security  of  the  interests  and  rights 
of  the  public  is  to  be  considered.  The  bill 
provides  that  the  first  eight  hundred  miles 


of  good  land  shall  be  divided  into  sections 
of  five  miles  each — that  is,  five  miles  by 
sixty ;  and  that,  after  Mr.  Whitney  shall 
have  built  his  first  ten  miles  of  road,  and 
after  it  shall  have  been  accepted  by  the 
Government  commissioner  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  as  being  in  all  things  a  fulfilment 
of  Mr.  Whitney's  engagements,  and  not  till 
then,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  sell  the  first 
section  of  five  miles  by  sixty,  as  well  as  he 
can,  to  reimburse  himself  for  his  expendi- 
tures on  the  first  ten  miles  of  road  already 
completed  and  accepted  ;  and  so  on,  in  the 
same  manner  and  on  the  same  conditions, 
for  every  successive  ten  miles  of  the  first 
eight  hundred,  leaving  every  alternate  sec- 
tion of  five  miles  by  sixty  untouched,  with 
all  its  increased  value  created  by  the  road, 
as  public  security  for  carrying  on  the  work 
to  the  Pacific.  Thus,  when  the  road  shall 
have  been  completed  through  this  eight 
hundred  miles  of  good  land,  the  Govern- 
ment will  hold,  as  security  for  the  extension 
and  final  completion  of  the  work,  the  road 
itself,  all  its  machinery,  four  hundred  miles 
by  sixty  of  these  good  lands  untouched  and 
raised  to  a  high  value  by  this  public  work, 
together  with  the  entire  remainder  of  the 
belt  to  the  Pacific. 

"  The  bill  also  provides  that  the  titles  of  the 
lands  sold  by  Mr.  Whitney  shall  be  given  to 
the  actual  purchasers  by  the  Government, 
and  not  by  him,  and  that  all  remainders 
unsold  shall  be  disposed  of  at  public  auction 
at  the  end  of  ten  years  after  the  road  shall 
have  been  completed  on  each  ten-mile  sec- 
tion— that  is,  the  unsold  parts  of  Mr.  Whit- 
ney's sections  of  five  miles  by  sixty  ;  and 
this,  to  prevent  the  reservation  of  lands  for 
speculation.  From  the  end  of  this  first 
eight  hundred  miles  to  the  Pacific,  where 
the  lands  are  poor  and  unavailable,  the  bill 
provides  that  Mr.  Whitney  shall  proceed  as 
follows,  to  wit :  that,  at  the  end  of  every 
ten  miles  of  road  completed  and  accepted 
as  before,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  sell  the 
whole  section  of  ten  miles  by  sixty,  to  reim- 
burse himself,  as  far  as  the  sales  will  go,  for 
his  expenditures  on  that  ten  miles  of  road ; 
and  for  any  deficit,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  go 
back  and  sell  at  public  auction  to  the  high- 
est bidder,  in  lots  of  forty  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  as  much  of  the  reserved 
untouched  lands  on  the  first  eight  hundred 
miles  as  this  deficit  may  require  ;  and  so  on,' 
and  in  the  same  manner,  for  every  succeed- 


1850. 


Whitney's  Plan  for  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


543 


ing  ten  miles  to  the  Pacific,  selling  the  lands 
of  each  ten-mile  section  after  the  road  shall 
have  been  completed  and  accepted,  and  go- 
ing back  to  sell  the  reserved  lands  only 
when  and  so  far  as  there  may  be  a  deficit, 
as  before;  and  all  this,  under  the  super- 
vision and  authority  of  the  Government  com- 
missioner, whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  see  to 
the  fulfilment  of  the  terms  of  the  bill. 

"  If,  at  any  stage  of  this  work,  Mr.  Whit- 
ney shall  fail  on  his  part,  the  bill  provides 
that  all  his  rights  shall  be  forfeited  to  the 
Government,  and  that  the  road,  so  far  as 
completed,  with  all  its  machinery,  shall  be- 
long to  the  Government ;  and  Congress  may 
sell  or  dispose  of  it  as  may  be  deemed  meet, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  nation ;  and  all  the 
unsold  and  reserved  lands  would  revert  and 
belong  to  the  nation,  the  same  as  if  this  act 
had  never  been  made  a  law.     And  if  Mr. 
Whitney  should  die,  his  successors  would  be 
under  the  same  obligations,  and  liable  to  the 
same  penalties,  on  the  same  conditions.  The 
bill  also  provides  that,  when  the  road  is 
completed  to  the  Pacific,  with  its  machinery 
in  operation,  to  the  satisfaction  of  Congress, 
so  that  the  Government  can  in  no  way  be 
made  liable  for  the  expenses  of  its  opera- 
tion and   repairs,  then    whatever,  if  any, 
surplus  lands  may  remain  unsold,  shall  be 
sold   for  the   account   and   benefit  of  Mr. 
Whitney ;  and  whatever  surplus  money  may 
remain,  after  paying  all  charges  against  said 
road,  shall  be  his,  as  a  reward  or  compen- 
sation for  this  work,  and  the  road  and  its 
machinery  shall  be  considered  as  belonging 
to  the  nation.     Although  the  bill  provides 
that  the  title  thereto  shall  vest  in  Mr.  Whit- 
ney, still  Congress  retains  the  power  to  fix 
and  regulate  the  tolls  for  both  passengers 
and  merchandise,  so  that  no  more  shall  be 
earned  than  barely  sufficient  for  the  expen- 
ses of  operation  and  repairs,  and  the  United 
States    mails  are   to   be   transported  free. 
Congress  will  hold  the  power  to  give  the 
management  of  the  road  to  any  other  party 
at  any  time  when  Mr.  Whitney  may  fail  to 
operate  it  as  the  wants  of  the  people  re- 
quire.    Thus  it  is  clear  to  your  Committee 
that  Mr.   Whitney's   only  chance   of  gain 
from  the  enterprise  is  in  the  hope  of  making 
the  lands,  by  building  the  road  through 
them,  produce  him  a  sum  exceeding  what 
will  have  been  his  actual  outlay  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  road,  its  machinery,  and 
the  $8,000,000,  or  the  ten  cents  per  acre, 


which  he  is  to  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States  for  the  entire  belt  of  lands." 

"  Your  Committee  believe,  as  informed  by 
Mr.  Whitney,  that  available  lauds,  with  tim- 
ber, other  material,  and  with  facilities  for 
the  work,  do  not  exist,  and  cannot  be  had 
on  any  other  route,  so  as  to  justify  the  com- 
mencement of  the  work  with  any  possible 
hope  of  success,  and  that  he  would  not 
attempt  it  on  any  other  route.  There  is  no 
plan  before  your  Committee  in  competition 
or  conflicting  with  Mr.  Whitney's  that  does 
not  depend,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  on 
the  public  treasury,  or  on  government  credit, 
for  means. 

"  Moreover,  your  Committee  believeit  will 
be  found,  by  actual  measurement,  that  the 
route  proposed  by  Mr.  Whitney  is  the  most 
direct  and  shortest  for  commerce  from  all 
our  Atlantic  cities  to  the  Pacific,  by  the 
South  Pass,  (probably  the  only  feasible 
route,)  and  around  the  globe  —  which  is  the 
?reat  end  in  view.  It  is  shorter,  for  exam- 
ple, from  Baltimore  to  the  great  South  Pass, 
by  more  than  300  miles,  than  by  way  of  St. 
Louis  ;  and  the  eastern  terminus,  or  the 
crossing  of  the  Mississippi  river,  reckoning 
on  other  connecting  lines  of  railroad  exist- 
ing and  projected,  is  nearer  to  Mobile  by 
300  miles  than  to  New-  York,  and  500  miles 
nearer  to  Mobile  than  to  Boston  ;  and,  as 
appears  to  your  Committee,  it  would  be  more 
fair  and  more  equal  for  all  our  Atlantic 
ports  than  a  more  southern  route  ;  arid, 
amongst  the  several  routes  proposed,  this 
appears  to  be  the  only  one  by  which  a  line 
of  railroad  can  be  extended  from  our  Atlan- 
tic ports  to  the  Pacific  without  being  broken 
by  rivers  or  waters  which  cannot  be  bridged  — 
a  most  imperative  necessity  for  such  a  high- 
wa of  commerce  across  this  continent,  as 
a  well-known  fact  that  transhipments 
and  commissions  often  amount  to  as  much 
or  more  than  the  transport. 

"  This  plan,  as  your  Committee  believe, 
would  rescue  the  whole  subject  from  sec- 
tional and  party  strifes,  and  from  all  liabili- 
ties of  being  employed  as  a  corrupt  and 
corrupting  engine  of  party  or  of  executive 
patronage,  or  as  a  stockjobbing  machine  : 
there  being  no  stock  and  no  dividends,  it 
could  never  go  into  Wall  street  or  into  the 
money  markets  of  Europe  ;  and  as  to  party 
or  executive  patronage,  the  only  agent  of 
the  Government  which  the  proposed  law 
requires  or  authorizes  is  the  commissioner 


it  is 


544 


Whitnetfs  Plan  far  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


Nov. 


to  be  appointed  to  see  that  the  different  en- 
actments of  the  bill  are  carried  out. 

"  Assuming,  as  is  already  shown,  and  as 
your  Committee  think  will  be  found  to  be 
the  fact,  that  no  other  plan  is  feasible,  your 
Committee  consider  that  the  most  forcible 
of  all  reasons  for  adopting  Mr.  Whitney's 
plan  is,  that  its  execution  will  effect  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  the  routes  of  commerce  ; 
that  it  will  bring  the  great  bulk  of  the  trade 
of  the  world  on  this  line,  and  make  our 
country  the  great  focus  of  the  commercial 
transactions  of  all  nations — making  the 
heart  of  our  country  the  centre  of  the  world, 
its  banking-house,  and  its  great  exchange. 

"  Distance,  time,  and  cost  of  transport,  are 
the  controlling  laws  of  trade.  By  measur- 
ing a  globe,  it  will  be  seen  that  on  the  par- 
allel proposed  for  this  road  is  the  shortest 
line  between  our  Atlantic  ports  and  Asia, 
and  the  shortest  line  between  Europe  and 
Asia  across  our  continent ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  this  belt  around  embraces, 
and  that  this  route  would  accommodate, 
nearly  the  entire  population  of  the  globe — 
that  is,  the  enterprising  and  industrious  part." 

It  is  computed  by  engineers  that  a  road 
with  1,000,000  tons  of  business  may  earn 
fair  dividends,  at  a  cost  of  $50,000  the 
mile,  on  a  charge  for  transportation  of  one 
cent  a  ton.  Accepting  these  estimates,  the 
Committee  declare  that  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation between  Europe  and  Asia,  would  be 
less  by  this  road  than  by  ships,  going  about 
Cape  Horn,  or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

It  is  also  ascertained  that  the  construction 
of  a  ship  canal  crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama would  not  interfere  with  the  business 
that  might  pass  over  this  road.  From  New- 
York  to  China  by  Panama  is  13,000  miles, 
with  every  allowance  for  winds  and  currents. 
By  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  it  is  14,255 
miles,  say  the  Committee.  From  New- York 
to  the  mouth  of  Columbia  river  by  steamers 
and  the  Isthmus  is  6,000  miles,  and  requires 
thirty-five  days  of  travel.  By  the  railroad 
it  will  be  less  than  half  the  distance,  (2,961 
miles,)  and  require  five  to  eight  days'  travel ! 
an  immense  saving  of  labor,  time,  and  cost, 
which  would  insure  the  preference  of  the 
railroad  above  all  other  routes. 

The  annual  aggregate  of  imports  and  ex- 
ports between  Europe  and  Asia  is  said  to  be 
in  value  about  $250,000,000.  The  whole 
of  this  immense  commerce  would  be  drawn 
from  its  present  route,  and  sent  across  the 


North  American  continent ;  a  result  of  which 
the  political  and  commercial  consequences 
exceed  imagination.  This  vast  commerce  is 
now  earned  on  by  foreign  shipping,  chiefly 
British ;  if  it  passed  over  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent,  our  own  merchants  would 
become  the  carriers  of  it.  Our  own  com- 
mercial and  naval  power  would  increase  in 
proportion  as  that  of  Great  Britain  dimin- 
ished. 

From  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  a  short  and  easy  commu- 
nication would  be  opened,  a  result  of  infinite 
importance  to  the  gold  countries  and  to  the 
great  State  of  Oregon  that  is  to  be,  and 
that  could  not  fail  to  give  those  countries  a 
commercial  importance  surpassing  that  of 
any  other  part  of  this  continent. 

The  Committee  do  not  hesitate  to  urge 
the  adoption  of  Mr.  Whitney's  plan  : — 

"Will  we  sell  these  lands,  as  proposed  by 
the  bill,  for  a  sum  exceeding,  as  your  Com- 
mittee believe,  that  which  the  Government 
can  expect  to  receive  for  the  same  tract  in 
any  other  manner,  and  with  such  other  re- 
strictions and  conditions  as  shall  guarantee 
to  the  nation  the  execution  and  accom- 
plishment of  this  great  highway  for  na- 
tions without  the  outlay  of  one  dollar  by 
the  nation,  without  one  penny  of  tax  or 
burden  upon  the  people,  and  no  tolls  except 
sufficient  only  for  the  expenses  of  repairs 
and  operation,  binding  our  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  possessions  together,  and  making  the 
commercial  world  tributary  to  us  ? 

"  Or  will  we  decide  against  this  great  work, 
promising  these  vast  and  important  results — 
abandon  them  all — let  our  Pacific  posses- 
sions separate  and  form  an  independent 
nation,  controlling,  as  they  will,  the  immense 
fisheries  and  commerce  of  the  vast  Pacific, 
with  the  commerce  of  Japan,  China,  and  all 
Asia  ?  Will  we  decide  that  the  lands,  which 
can  now  be  applied  to  and  effect  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  stupendous  and  truly  na- 
tional work,  shall  be  wasted  away  for  party 
political  capital  and  other  puq^oses,  whereby 
the  nation  can  never  receive  any  direct  ben- 
efit— when,  too,  the  objects  urged  by  those 
who  wish  to  dispose  of  the  lands  to  settlers 
without  pay  would  be  more  immediately 
effected  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  work, 
because  its  construction  would  give  employ-  v 
ment  to  settlers,  and  create  the  means  to 
pay  for  their  lands,  and  place  them  a  hun- 
dred fold  better  off  than  to  have  the  lands 


1850. 


Whitney's  Plan  for  a  Pacific  Railroad. 


545 


free  of  cost  without  the  road,  which  is  the 
only  means  by  which  their  products  could 
reach  the  markets,  so  as  to  yield  a  return 
for  their  labor  ? 

"  Your  Committee  cannot  hesitate  in  form- 
ing a  decision  upon  this  subject,  not  doubt- 
ing that  those  who  examine  it  will  be  im- 
pressed with  the  same  views,  and  form  the 
same  conclusions  as  your  Committee  have 
done.     Therefore,  your   committee   recom- 
mend the  adoption  by  Congress  of  the  bill 
proposed,  and  urge  its  immediate  adoption. 
The  various  plans  and  bills  now  before  Con- 
gress for  disposing  of  very  large  amounts  of 
the  public  domain,  together  with  the  con- 
stant demand  for  actual  settlement,  particu- 
larly at  the  first  part  or  commencement  of 
the  proposed  route,  are  rendering  the  exe- 
cution of  this  plan  more  and  more  difficult 
every  day ;  and  your  Committee  believe  the 
time  must  soon  arrive  when  these  lands  on 
the  first  part  of  the  route,  so  desirable  for 
immediate  available  means,  and  possessing 
timber,  materials,  and  facilities  for  commenc- 
ing   and   carrying  on  the  work  into    the 
wilderness,  will  be   so  far   disposed  of  for 
other  purposes  as  to  render  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  work  doubtful,  or  impossible. 
And  to  wait  for  further  surveys  and  explora- 
tions, as  has  been  proposed  by  some,  would, 
in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  be  the 
defeat  and  abandonment  of   this  plan  for  j 
ever  ;  arid,  besides,  the  authorization  of  sur- 
veys for  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  would  justly 
be  considered  by  the  people  as  sanctioning 
the  commencement  of  a  Government  work, 
which  your  Committee  cannot  recommend, 
nor  would  it  be  sanctioned  by  the  people, 
as  your  Committee  believe :  neither  do  your 
Committee  think  it  at  all  necessary,  nor  does 
this  plan  require,  to  delay  the  adoption  of 
this  bill   for  further   surveys.     The  rivers 
have  been  examined  by  Mr.  Whitney  him- 
self, to  ascertain  at  what  points  they  can  be 
bridged.     From  the  lake  to  his  point  on  the 
Mississippi,  it  is  well  known  that  there  are 
no  difficulties  on  his  route ;  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  his  point  on  the  Missouri,  his  route 
is   without  obstacles ;  and   thence   to   the 
South  Pass,  it  is  well  known  that  impedi- 
ments do  not  exist.     While  these  three  sec- 
tions are  being  constructed,  the  route  thence 
to  the  Pacific  can  be  explored,  surveyed,  and 
fixed  upon. 

"  The  route  from  the  lake  to  the  South 
Pass,  as  your  Committee  arc  informed,  has 


no  parallel  for  feasibility  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  ;  and  from  the  South  Pass  to  the  Pa- 
cific, the  explorations  of  Colonel  Fremont 
and  others,  as  well  as  the  immense  emigra- 
tion to  Oregon  and  California,  abundantly 
certify  that  it  is  feasible.  Besides,  the 
streams,  which  wend  their  way  all  from  the 
South  Pass  to  the  Columbia  and  the  Pacific, 
indicate  a  favorable  route,  it  being  a  well- 
known  fact  that  there  are  no  very  great  falls 
or  rapids  in  the  streams  emptying  into  the 
Columbia ;  and  that  river  has  cut  its  way 
and  made  a  route  through  the  mountains  to 
the  ocean." 

We  cannot  sufficiently  commend  to  the 
attention  of  our  readers  that  excellent  fea- 
ture of  the  plan  recommended  by  the  Sen- 
ate's Committee,  that  there  will  be  no  new 
offices  created  by  it,  to  be  filled  by  the  favor 
of  the  Executive.  There  can  be  no  jobbing 
nor  corruption.  The  American  principle, 
that  nothing  that  can  be  accomplished  by 
private  enterprise  should  be  attempted  by 
the  General  Government.  The  cost  of  such 
a  road,  undertaken  upon  a  Government  sur- 
vey, itself  to  consume  many  years  and  sev- 
eral millions  in  the  preparation,  would  con- 
sume the  amount  of  the  entire  reve- 
nues of  the  nation  for  several  years,  and 
compel  the  Government  to  contract  an  im- 
mense debt,  and  finally  to  institute  a  system 
of  direct  taxes.  An  army  of  applicants  for 
office  under  the  great  Railroad  adminis- 
tration— which  would  constitute  a  separate 
Bureau,  or  Department — would  beset  the 
j  doors  of  the  Cabinet.  The  work  would 
drag  on  heavily,  perhaps  for  ages,  and  its 
completion  be  postponed  to  the  utmost  limit 
by  those  who  were  receiving  salaries  for 
superintending  its  construction. 

Under  the  plan  recommended  by  the 
Committee,  on  the  contrary,  eveiy  induce- 
ment is  held  out  to  the  contractor,  Mr.  Whit- 
ney, to  finish  it  with  the  greatest  expedi- 
tion, since  the  value  of  the  lauds  upon  which 
it  is  commenced,  in  the  region  between  the 
Lakes  Superior  and  Michigan,  will  be  in- 
creased as  the  road  lengthens  out  over  the 
wilderness,  and  creates  new  settlements  upon 
its  line. 

With  every  year  that  passes,  the  difficulty 
of  constructing  such  a  road  is  increased. 
The  great  timber  region  south  of  Lake  Su- 
perior is  the  only  tract  of  country  that  can 
now  be  depended  on  to  furnish  the  lu.-it.-ri- 
als  of  the  road.  The  timber  on  this  tract 


546 


Miscellany. 


Nov. 


is  being  cut  away  annually  in  vast  quantities, 
by  companies  who  appropriate  it  without 
leave  from  Government.  A  grant  of  the 
lands  for  this  great  national  enterprise  will 
convert  the  property  of  the  nation  to  its 
right  use,  and  put  an  end  to  these  depreda- 
tions. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  Government 
ought  to  undertake  a  regular  survey  of  the 
various  routes  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific, before  proceeding  to  the  grant  of  lands. 
This  would  only  cause  a  delay  of  the  work 
for  five  or  six  years  longer,  by  the  end  of 
which  time  the  timber  would  have  been  in 
great  part  cut  away  from  the  region  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi,  upon 
which  it  will  be  necessary  to  construct  the 
road.  The  survey  would  be,  for  other  rea- 


sons, wholly  unnecessary.  The  route  has 
been  thoroughly  examined  already,  wherever 
examination  was  necessary.  A  survey  of 
the  prairies  for  such  a  purpose  would  be  of 
about  as  much  service  as  a  survey  of  the 
ocean  between  New- York  and  Liverpool. 
Five  years  of  delay,  an  idle  expenditure  of 
several  millions,  and  the  final  defeat  of  the 
entire  undertaking,  would  be  the  almost 
certain  consequences  of  such  a  survey.  It 
will  be  proposed  by  the  enemies  of  the 
project,  as  a  political  manoeuvre  to  stop  pro- 
ceedings. A  vast  number  of  unemployed 
engineers  and  others  would  find  it  a  good 
job  for  several  years,  and  the  stigma  of  Gov- 
ernment patronage  will  have  been  irretriev- 
ably fixed  upon  the  work.  The  enemies  of 
the  plan  will  of  course  vote  for  the  survey. 


MISCELLANY. 


WE  the  give  following  account  from  the 
London  Times  of  the  chief  events  in  the  life 
of  Louis  Philippe  : — 

Louis  Philippe  was  born  in  Paris,  on  the  6th  of 
October,  1773,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  Philippe 
Joseph,  Duke  of  Orleans,  (known  to  the  world  by 
the  soubriquet  of  "  Philippe  Egalite,")  and  of  Marie, 
the  daughter  of  the  Duke  de  Penthievre.  Trained 
by  careful  and  benevolent  parents,  the  youth  of  the 
future  King  was  marked  by  many  acts  of  benevo- 
lence, bespeaking  high  character,  sufficient  to  call 
forth  the  high  commendation  of  the  celebrated 
Madame  de  Genhs,  whose  wise  and  judicious  train- 
ing was  well  calculated  to  develop  any  latent  good 
qualities  in  the  minds  of  those  under  her  charge. 
The  diary  of  the  Duke  de  Chartres  shows  that  he 
was  not  altogether  exempt  from  revolutionary 
doctrines,  and  these  ideas  were  far  from  being  dis- 
couraged by  his  connection  with  the  Jacobin  Club. 
In  1791  the  young  Duke,  who  had  previously  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  Colonel  in  the  14th 
Regiment  of  Dragoons,  assumed  the  command  of 
that  corps,  and  almost  the  first  act  of  his  authority 
was  the  saving  of  two  clergymen  from  the  fury  of 
the  mob,  consequent  upon  their  refusal,  in  common 
with  many  others,  to  take  the  oath  required  by  the 
Constitution.  Much  personal  courage  was  on  this 
occasion  displayed  by  the  Duke  de  Chartres,  and 
equal  tact  in  guiding  the  feelings  of  an  enraged 
mob.  A  similar  amount  of  courage  was  shown 
by  him  in  saving  from  drowning  a  M.  de  Siret,  of 
*  <  n.e,  Sub- Engineer  in  the  Office  of  Roads 


and  Bridges,  and  a  civic  crown  was  presented  to 
him  by  the  municipal  body  of  that  town. 

In  August,  1791,  the  Duke  de  Chartres  quitted 
Vendome  with  his  regiment,  bound  for  Valenci- 
ennes. In  April,  1792,  war  being  declared  against 
Austria,  the  Duke  made  his  first  campaign.  He 
fought  at  Valmy  at  the  head  of  the  troops  confided 
to  him  by  Kellermann,  on  the  20th  of  September, 
1792,  and  afterwards  on  the  6th  of  November, 
under  Dumouriez,  at  Jemappes.  During  the  period 
in  which  the  Duke  de  Chartres  was  engaged  in  the 
military  operations  the  revolution  was  hastening 
to  its  crisis.  The  decree  of  banishment  against  the 
Bourbon  Capet  race,  so  soon  afterward  repealed, 
seems  to  have  alarmed  the  mind  of  the  Duke, 
who  earnestly  besought  his  father  to  seek  an  asy- 
lum on  a  foreign  shore,  urging  the  unhappiness  of 
his  having  to  sit  as  a  judge  of  Louis  XVI.  The 
Duke  of  Orleans  paid  no  attention  to  these  remon- 
strances, and  finding  that  his  persuasions  were  to 
no  avail,  the  Duke  de  Chartres  returned  to  his  post 
in  the  army.  The  execution  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
soon  afterward  verified  the  melancholy  anticipa- 
tions of  his  son.  He  was  put  to  death  on  the  21st 
of  January,  1793.  Exactly  seven  months  after  the 
death  of  his  father  the  Duke  de  Chartres  and 
General  Dumouriez  were  summoned  before  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and,  knowing  the 
sanguinary  nature  of  that  tribunal,  both  instantly 
fled  toward  the  frontiers.  In  spite  of  the  eager 
pursuit  which  was  commenced,  they  both  escaped 
into  the  Belgian  Netherlands,  then  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Austria.  The  Austrian  authorities  invited 


